Bpd

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT BPD - PAGE 2

PARIS: Despite a weak economic growth, global oil demand grew by 390,000 barrels per day last year, bringing consumption to 76.9m bpd, estimates released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed. The IEA revised its estimated growth figure upwards by 60,000 bpd for '02, but left it unchanged at 1.1m bpd for this year in a monthly oil market and stocks assessment that came five days after Opec agreed to raise its output quota. "Despite slow pace of economic recovery, global oil demand grew faster than expected in late '02, driven by cold weather, low Japanese nuclear power output and robust gains in Chinese apparent demand," the report said.

MUMBAI: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has decided to reduce its crude oil output by 2.5m barrels per day (bpd), almost 10% of its total production, but the move is unlikely to cause any shortages as it coincides with slackening demand in key consuming regions. The cartel, in its latest meeting on Tuesday, decided to clamp down on output by 2.5m bpd in two phases. Initially, the cartel members have pledged to stick to the allotted quotas, which should bring down the output by 1.5m bpd. The members have further pledged to bring down the output by another 1m bpd by April 2004, down to 23.5m bpd. Analysts say fears of a crude scarcity may be unfounded.

NEW DELHI: Cairn India's prolific Rajasthan oil block has potential to produce 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), a quarter more than the previously projected peak output. The company, which has been acquired by London-based miner Vedanta Resources , has told the authorities that Mangala and other oilfields in the block can produce 300,000 bpd, subject to regulatory and partner approval. Sources privy to the development said Mangala, the biggest of the 18 discoveries that Cairn has made in Rajasthan block, can produce 150,000 bpd against current output of 125,000 bpd. Bhagyam, the second biggest field in the Rajasthan block, can produce 60,000 bpd as opposed to current approved peak output of 40,000 bpd, while Aishwariya can contribute 25,000 bpd compared to 10,000 bpd previously stated.

BAGHDAD: Iraq's southern oil exports rose in July to a record average of 3.064 million barrels per day (bpd) from 3.02 million in June, officials from the state-run South Oil CO. said on Saturday. Shipments have jumped after Iraq's decision to split crude stream into two grades, Basra Heavy and Basra Light, to resolve quality issues. Some companies working in Iraqi oilfields increased production following the move. Exports from Iraq's north via Ceyhan in Turkey averaged only 40,000 barrels bpd, bringing the nationwide total exports to 3.104 million bpd, the oil ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: Indian Oil Corp shut the crude unit of its 300,000 barrels-per-day Paradip plant in May and will restart the same in August, its refineries head told reporters on Wednesday. "There are 15 units (in total) that need to be commissioned in phases," Sanjiv Singh said. There is only one crude unit in Paradip, in the country's east.

LONDON: Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia may boost production close to 9.5m barrels per day (bpd) in August, a 400,000 bpd rise on this month, to meet customers' demand for more crude, a Gulf industry source said on Tuesday. The kingdom, OPEC's leading oil producer, has been pumping about 9m bpd since June to try to cool a relentless rally that has pushed US prices beyond $40 a barrel. "Saudi Arabia might be as high as 9.5m for the month of August," the Gulf industry source said.

SYDNEY: BHP Billiton Ltd, Australia's largest oil and gas producer, said it had shut in over 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production at two of its fields in Australia's remote northwest due to a tropical cyclone. Production at its 80,000 bpd Stybarrow field, as well as its 10,600 bpd Griffin field, had been suspended since Sunday morning, said BHP's spokeswoman Emma Meade. "We are now waiting for the seas to calm before resuming operations," Meade said. The company's iron ore mining operations in the Pilbara region were unaffected, she said.

MUMBAI: Cairn India Ltd , the energy firm that London-listed Vedanta Resources is seeking to buy, on Wednesday said the giant Mangala oilfield in Rajasthan can produce 150,000 barrels per day, 20 per cent more than the previously approved peak production. Mangala is the first of 25 oil and gas discoveries Cairn has made in the prolific Rajasthan block. The largest oil find in the country in more than two decades has an approved plateau production of 125,000 bpd (6.25 million tonnes)

TRIPOLI: OPEC member Libya is Africa's fourth largest oil producer after Nigeria, Algeria and Angola, boasting production of 1.8 million barrels per day and estimated reserves of 42 billion barrels. When Moamer Kadhafi came to power in 1969, foreign oil companies, the majority of them American, extracted more than two million bpd from Libya's soil. But the new leader soon moved to nationalise the oil sector and limit its production, creating the National Oil Corporation with minority stakes for foreign operators.

BEIJING: China's implied oil demand grew 3.5 per cent in June, as rising air travel and vehicle usage boosted fuel consumption, but a drop in passenger car sales amid a recent stock market rout could limit demand growth over the next few months. China consumed roughly 10.56 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in June, up from 10.20 million bpd in the same month a year ago and up 2.3 per cent from 10.32 million bpd in May, according to Reuters calculations based on preliminary government data.